Safe - A McRoll in the REAL World Story
by Mari217
Summary: Catherine hears a story about Steve that simply reinforces what she's always known.


_I am sincerely thrilled and quite overwhelmed by the love you've all shown for the REAL World. _

_We love you all right back. We have a __lot__ of great things in store for Steve & Catherine (and you!) to enjoy._

_Sammy & Ilna, ladies, you're the best of the best! Ilna thanks for the 'catch' on this one._

_Hugs and love, Mari_

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**Safe**

Catherine was about to take a bite into her puka dog when she heard, "Rollins?" and turned to locate the voice.

Striding across the grass to where she was sitting at a picnic table, a woman of Catherine's age, wearing digi blues, was smiling and shielding her eyes from the sun. As the woman got closer, saying, "Catherine Rollins! I thought I recognized you!" She stood.

"Goodman? Rose Goodman!" Catherine acknowledged when she recognized the tall blond with wide green eyes. "How are you?" The women embraced. "What are you doing in Hawaii? Are you stationed at Pearl?"

"I don't want to interrupt, you're eating …" Rose gestured toward the table.

"No, don't be silly. I just got off duty after 36 hours; this was the closest place to eat on the way home. So, are you at Pearl?"

Rose nodded. "Just T.A.D. for a few days. I'm delivering a presentation for the N.I. conference. I asked for you at base. I was going to look you up. They said you'd retired to the reserves and were on the Governor's task force."

"I did." Catherine motioned for Rose to sit. "Hey, can I get you something?" She nodded toward the food stand.

"No, I just stopped to get a drink." Rose held up a water bottle. "I saw you sitting here and thought I recognized you."

"I'm glad you stopped. It's been what? Thirteen years?"

Rose shook her head. "Closer to fourteen." A grin crossed her face. "So, how's McGarrett?"

"How did …" Catherine began then smiled softly. "He's good."

"Glad to hear it. I heard he was head of a task force here. Then I heard you'd retired to Oahu and joined one." She tapped her head, said, "Navy Intel." and laughed. "I'm happy for you. Both of you."

"Thanks."

"You're a lucky woman. McGarrett's an exceptional guy. I know his rep is for being a hard ass. But, I always saw through it. We all did, especially when he was with you. Guess _he's_ lucky you saw past the façade, too." Rose winked at her.

"We never let …" Catherine began. She and Steve and always been extremely careful of not making a public display of their relationship. Particularly when they were both in Intel, even if it was in different sectors or chains of command.

"Didn't have to." Rose tapped her head again. And they both laughed.

"Yeah, well…"

"Hey," Rose checked her watch. "I have to get back, but I'd like to tell you something. Got a few? And please …" she nodded that Catherine should continue with her lunch.

"Sure. I'm waiting for Steve to meet me, actually. He rides with his partner so we usually take two cars. Danny's dropping him here. We have a stop to make before we can go home and crash."

"_Home_ huh?"

Catherine gave her another smile and nodded.

"Even better I ran into you. Now I definitely want you to hear what I have to say."

Catherine's curiosity was undeniably piqued. She tilted her head but said nothing.

"You remember Dacosta, right?"

"Sure. Maddie Dacosta; she was dating the Marine when you were with Tim O'Boyle, right? They had that huge break up our sophomore year."

Rose nodded. She's still one of my best friends, and she's still in, too. When she heard I'd asked about you on base, she asked about McGarrett … and _you_ … because …" Rose shrugged and Catherine grinned. Even if they'd never publicly labeled what they were, friends rarely asked for one without mentioning the other.

"There was a weekend I want to tell you about; that summer before junior year, right after my break up apocalypse, when Tim started dating that townie. Linda, a junior at Georgetown. Anyway, Tim stayed local that summer, got a short term job tutoring a Lieutenant's kid. He was like McGarrett; never went home on breaks."

Catherine winced a little. Rose was right. Steve _never_ went home on breaks. If he had to leave because campus was 'down' he'd maybe go home for a few days with a friend whose parents had invited him along. Summers were different; he'd get a room in town for the three week summer liberty.

Local residents would often take in boarders to make a few dollars and Annapolis plebes were generally considered trustworthy. If the student worked out, they'd likely rent for their next two summer liberties. The landlords were often retired couples or empty-nesters with a room to let and offered very low rent if the student would help with a home repair project or do errands. By the time Steve was a senior, he'd spent three liberties as a border in the home of a retired Marine Colonel and his wife.

Truth be told, the couple loved the quiet, handsome boy who was never afraid of hard work. The Colonel's wife had told Catherine as much when she'd visited Steve there a few times, either before classes started or after they'd finished and Catherine hadn't left for home yet.

Catherine had also gone there to help Steve "move" back into the dorms for his senior year, although, in reality, he hardly needed help with a duffel and small box of belongings. She just couldn't stand the thought of him entering dorms full of kids whose parents were happily dropping them off, all alone. They'd dropped off Steve's stuff, spent the day together and caught up with returning friends afterwards.

"…Tim married her; actually, she was at the 2010 reunion. One of the ones you missed when you were deployed." Rose's voice brought Catherine back to the present.

"So, I wanted to mention this to you because I just … well ... if it was my husband, Robert, I'd want to know. And I owe it to McGarrett, sort of."

Catherine was definitely intrigued so she waited, not interrupting as Rose continued.

"So the summer after my break up, Maddie got back early to spend a few days in town with a friend who was going to Choppin State. I was in town because I was staying with a friend's family for the whole liberty. So Maddie and I see Tim a few times around town with Linda. And you have to understand; I really, _really_ had it bad for him. I was acting so depressed that when a few of our friends, McGarrett included, were going up to Ocean City, Maddie talked me into joining them. That was the weekend all hell broke loose part two.

Catherine nodded. Steve had told her about that weekend upon her return to Annapolis. How they'd all driven two hours to the Maryland beach. Some of their friends had decided to stay over, but he'd planned on making it a day trip. Steve had ended up staying and driving several of them back because he knew they'd be too worse for wear in the morning to move, let alone drive.

"Well, turns out that we're not in Ocean City half a day and boom, who do we see? Mr. Tim O'Boyle and his brand new girlfriend. Then, later that night, we're all playing darts in a bar against a bunch of kids from P.A. and Jersey, and boom part two. Tim and Linda again."

"Okay, that sucks." Catherine said sincerely.

"Yeah, well, that's not the worst of it. There were half a dozen of us and Maddie and I were the only girls. I'm hurt and pissed and drunk off my ass by about eleven. We had two cars because McGarrett and Lenny Thomas were planning to drive back to school that night, so _they_ stopped drinking early, after a couple of beers. The rest of us … no. At some point, I got fuzzy but I remember most of what went down.

"Rose?" Catherine said and touched the woman's hand.

"No, I'm fine, it was fine. The reason _why_ it was fine is what I want to tell you. Somehow Maddie got separated from me and the guys; she was dancing in the main room, and was blasted when she came back to the part of the bar where the guys were. Thomas walked her to the motel; he made sure she was okay and he crashed for the night. McGarrett had already decided they weren't leaving us and told Thomas they should each stay in one of our rooms so they could drive us home in the morning."

"That's Steve." Catherine said, a note of pride seeping into her voice.

"Yeah, it is." Rose smiled again, with warmth this time. "Well, what happened was this: I was so out of it that night that I went off with some local guy from the bar. Crawled out the ladies room window to do it, too. The other three guys were totally drunk by then and had gone back to the rooms. Everyone did. Except me. No one noticed but McGarrett. He came looking. Alone. For an hour.

When he found me I was walking in an alley with two guys I didn't even know. McGarrett got me back to the motel. I was smashed but conscious enough to be throwing myself at everyone. Him included. Which I'm _still_ sorry for, by the way, because I knew how bad he had it for you."

Catherine shook her head to indicate that Rose shouldn't give it another thought. She certainly wasn't upset about a sixteen year old incident and she'd trusted Steve as much then as she did now. Even if they hadn't been … what they'd been back then … Steve would never, _ever_, sober or drunk, take advantage of anyone.

Rose smiled her thanks and went on with her story. "He made sure I was okay and hung there all night."

"Hung where?"

"On the floor of the room, watching out for me with the other three guys. They were as drunk as I was. I was acting like a fool and trying to get back at my ex and I guarantee one or two of them might have taken me up on my offer. Except McGarrett. But he wouldn't let that happen. He just told them all to stand down and go to sleep. And he … sat there. All night. Pouring shitty hotel room coffee-maker coffee into me and saying 'You'll be fine, Goodman.'"

Catherine sighed. She felt genuinely sorry for that girl who'd become the Rose who sat there with her, and for a situation that could have gone south quickly, for everyone involved. She also felt such pride for twenty year old Steve McGarrett that her heart swelled with it.

"He never mentioned a thing to any of us, ever again. Other than to ask if I was okay every few days. And I was. I basically could have gotten in serious trouble if McGarrett hadn't come looking for me." Rose shook her head. "I sorted things out after that. Stopped pining over Tim. Saw the school counselor a couple of times. I met Robert three months later. We'll be married ten years next month."

"Good for you." Catherine said and genuinely meant it.

"Know what I said to Robert when he asked if I had been afraid to go to sleep that night in the same room with four guys I'd just propositioned? Three of whom were really, really drunk?"

"What?" Catherine asked. Suddenly, she turned momentarily to see Steve approaching from a hundred yards away. She'd sensed his presence and knew she was right when she recognized his gait. She smiled subconsciously and turned back to Rose. "Sorry. That's Steve now. Please, go on."

"I said, and I quote, 'Not at all.' Of course Robert asked why."

"And?"

"I said I knew I was _safe_." Rose smiled and shrugged. "Steve McGarrett was there."

Catherine was a little overwhelmed. "Wow, that's … Rose, I appreciate your sharing your story with me."

"Look, Catherine, I've known you both a long time. It's not like we were all best friends, but we ran in the same circle. That I felt safe because McGarrett was there? That's the highest compliment I can think to pay him. And of course I realize _you_ know what a good man he is … and _was_, but sometimes it's nice to know others remember it, too."

Just then Steve walked up and Catherine stood to kiss him hello.

"Hey." His eyes took in Rose and he smiled. "Goodman?"

"McGarrett! Give me a hug." Rose wrapped Steve in an embrace. "I'm here for a conference and just ran into Catherine. I interrupted her lunch with stories from the old days. Oh, God, I sound like my mother."

"It's good to see you. Can you join us?"

"No, I have to run. Here." She fished out a card. "Keep in touch." She gave Steve a peck on the cheek. "Still the cutest, smartest boy in class, McGarrett. And the nicest; bad-ass SEAL or not." Rose Goodman straightened and fell back into the habit of addressing Catherine as they'd all done back in the academy. "Rollins, lovely to see you."

"You too, and thanks. Really." Catherine hugged her.

.

After Rose left, Steve sat and Catherine handed him a wrapped puka dog. "Here, eat." As he did she asked, "How was the meeting with Denning?"

"Okay." Steve said and took a swallow of Catherine's coconut water. "Thanks, I was starving." He leaned in to place a quick kiss on her temple. "What did Rose Goodman have to say?"

"Other than telling me a … story? Not too much." Catherine smiled. Glancing around the empty area, she kissed Steve softly.

"Story …?"

"About a very nice thing someone did for her a long time ago." Her hand caressed his face.

Steve's eyes narrowed. "Oh, Jesus, Catherine. That was a lifetime ago and it wasn't a big deal." He looked embarrassed.

"It was a _very_ big deal to Rose." Catherine gently tightened the fingers that rested on his knee. "And to me. You're a good guy, Steve McGarrett." Her nose crinkled in a smile as the sun brought out the gold flecks in her brown eyes. "Rose says I'm lucky to have you. Kinda agree. I feel pretty lucky right about now."

Steve stood, and offered her his hand. "And I kinda think you got that luck thing backwards." He didn't even look for passersby before he pulled her into a kiss. "Let's go home."

.

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End. Thanks for reading! ~ Mari

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